Chapter 9 – Hair tie

Once again the village of Konoha could experience the sight of a happily chattering pink haired girl walking next to the well known emotionless genius of the Uchiha clan.

It was a sight that was getting more and more common. Some people would swear they had even seen the stoic boy smile on occasion, but that was mostly the elderly housewives, who on the same breath would tell you how adoringly cute that little girl was. Not many really believed those chatterboxes and that was the way Sakura wanted it. The past three months of her new existence had brought just a bit of change in Itachi. A change she would not like words off to reach the Uchiha head. She felt he would be less than pleased by it.

Of course it was not like it was a big change, but he sometimes let his guard down a few inches around her. Enough to earn her a few upturning of lips, if she worked hard. Ever since the Kakashi incident she hadn't managed to get him to almost-laugh again, though. She wanted to hear that highly amusing sound once more. She wanted to see that absolutely horrified look on his face again. The look that screamed: "Did I just make that sound?" Though above all she wanted to understand him. To do that she would have to crack his shell at least enough to take a peek inside.

This particular day they were heading towards a small teashop for lunch. Sakura had somehow roped Itachi into buying them dango. She secretly suspected he'd roped her into roping him into buying them dango. While he was not loud as Naruto was about ramen, Itachi seemed to be very fond of the sweet dumplings.

They had just finished their morning routine. A routine that Sakura still had to sit out on the last part of. It was even harder than her training with Tsunade had been. But it felt good - in a sweaty and tiring way. She had no idea how Itachi had managed to keep standing that week he'd had to complete it at night, while guarding her in the day hours. He was simply amazing. The sheer speed and strength packed in that young body of his was baffling beyond words. He was truly a genius advanced beyond his years.

She couldn't help but wonder though of how deep the expense ran. When did Uchiha Itachi take the life of an enemy for the first time? He was eleven years old now and she was certain he had already killed. She could tell from his eyes. When was his innocence ripped apart?

Her thoughts was interrupted by the murmuring of the people around her. She managed to catch the phrases: 'chunin team', 'ambush', 'hospital' and 'badly poisoned'. She was gone in a blur.

Oo o oO

Itachi had long since, to save his own sanity, concluded that Sakura was insane. Her emotions could change from happiness to anger in a matter of milliseconds. Not to mention the speed at with which she could change from outgoing to timid at the appearance of his father. He had even once caught her talking out loud with herself.

It wasn't really the fact that she was thinking out loud, that irked him. It was the fact that what she spoke was only one side of the conversation. He'd concluded, after checking thoroughly for hidden microphones, that her nonsensical mumblings of how long hair was much too 'troublesome' wasn't some kind of unknown code. She was so confusing that even his brilliant mind couldn't wrap itself around the strange creature that was this pink haired girl with a slightly wide forehead.

Of course thinking logically and not in the interest of preserving his sanity, she was brilliant. He'd come to understand, that she did nothing without a solid reason, though usually he only understood that reasoning afterwards. What he could not understand was the reasoning behind her goal to annoy him every chance she got. Had it just been that, he might have written it off as her being bored, but it seemed what she was really satisfied about was when she managed to make him sorta smile.

He could not help but wonder which was the real personae. He was inclined to believe it was the Sakura walking beside him now; quiet and thoughtful with a far off look in her darkened emerald eyes. Then again, she could possibly be a combination of all those personalities. He had an idea that her past was very complicated and that could make for a very complicated person.

For the Uchiha, a clan that prided itself in it's ability to read people even more than the Hyugas, someone like Sakura was dangerous. His father had made the mistake of thinking he'd read her correctly. Itachi would not make that mistake. Then again if Sakura had wanted to deceive him with that timid show, he might have been tricked as well. It irked him. Yet he couldn't help but wonder if she showed him her changing personalities to confuse him; because it was certainly working that way. In the end his pride didn't really matter, as long as Konoha was safe. His instincts were telling him she was no threat to Konoha - or his little brother for that sake.

On the contrary those two had become the best of friends making his innocent brother develop a trickster streak. Actually, he should be thanking that annoying girl for her influence. Sasuke rarely sent him those adoring looks that he felt he didn't deserve. Yet he knew his little brother loved him just as much, from his greetings when they got home everyday and also his repeated question of when they would play together again. He just didn't hero worship him in the extreme anymore. Also it seemed their father's comments on how Sasuke should be more like him didn't sting as much anymore. Itachi had no idea how she'd managed that. He had an inkling that it was the way she'd slightly pushed him off his pedestal, and thereby making him more reachable to Sasuke. Like it was actually a possibility to defeat him. Or maybe their annoying little secret of the origin of Sakura's hair color had just given a boost to his confidence. Especially after he'd made the mistake to ask him... Itachi had no idea Sasuke's cute little face could look so smug. Not to mention the other things she'd lured Sasuke into helping her with, it was best not to remember...

He felt his left eye twitch. Something was wrong. They'd stopped. He snapped out of his thoughts to catch the snippet of "badly poisoned" from a gathered crowd, but that was not the important part. He'd just felt Sakura's presence disappear from his side. Usually when she did that trick, he'd find himself tugged along. The fact that he wasn't could only mean one thing. She'd heard something very disturbing. Setting his sights on the crowd he had every intention of figuring out exactly what that was.

Oo o oO

Sakura practically flew across the rooftops, carefully measuring the amount of chakra she had. A chunin team, that meant four people and she'd possibly have to extract the poison. Her chakra reserves wasn't in their top condition. She'd pushed herself a bit more than necessary this morning, a fact that she cursed herself for now. As a medic she was taught always to keep a certain amount of chakra stored in case of emergency - unless she was in a life or death situation. She would need a soldier pill to keep up her chakra. She'd just have to deal with the repercussions on her own body later.

For the sake of not startling people with her sudden entrance she opted for entering through a window into an unused room. The window slid open easily with a bit of chakra enhanced persuasion. She'd picked this room for the sole reason that it was close to the medicine storage. Dashing through the hallways she reached the storeroom in record time. She stopped for moment, stupefied. The door wasn't locked.

The door to the medicine which in the wrong doses is positively deadly was not locked. She had realized the state of the hospital was nothing like when Tsunade had taken over, but she had not known it was this bad. All the more reason to get moving. She couldn't stand around, when she could possibly help and this incompetence in lack of procedure was very troubling. Grabbing a soldier pill, she dashed out of the storage heading for the intensive unit.

Oo o oO

The relatively young nurse readied the injection a grim expression on her face. The team had come in half an hour ago. The poison had yet to be identified. Tension was thick in the air as medics struggled to close the superficial wounds; a work that would be wasted if an antidote wasn't found in the very near future. Her hands shook as she moved the needle towards her young patient's arm. Suddenly her wrist was grabbed harshly and yanked away from the chunin. Shocked brown meet the hard emerald of the perpetrator.

"What do you think you're doing?" was the flinty words that came over the lips of... a young girl. Rightful anger came over the woman. Who did this girl think she was? How did she even get in here? The medics had all stopped their work to stare at the child still holding onto her wrist in a surprisingly painful grip.

"I am saving this young man's life, now if you'll excuse me," she said, teeth clenched as she yanked on her arm. Surprisingly the girl's hold held strong. Anger suddenly burned within those big eyes as they narrowed. Feeling the suddenly deadly aura of the child, the nurse would gladly have stepped a few steps away, but unfortunately her arm was currently stuck and she had the misfortune of facing it head on. Cowering in fear she waited for what was sure to be a grand explosion. What she least expected was the almost quiet and tightly controlled voice.

"Medical protocol demands that in case of poisoning no other chemicals must be introduced to the body before the poison is identified and such an introduction of chemicals is deemed safe. Please tell me why you are administering antibiotics then, when the poison is not identified?"

"I..." she found herself trailing of, "the wounds will be infecte..."

"Infection can be dealt with later, as the most important problem right here is the poison. The reason you shouldn't inject antibiotics is that the poison might react with it and possibly make matters even worse. The sick people making these poisons like to make mean little side effects when they come into contact with generally used medication, so as to break down the unfortunate medic, who instead of saving the patient kills him or her..."

Oo o oO

Sakura stood patiently for all of two seconds waiting for the doctors to draw their conclusion. For the nurse to realize that she could possibly have killed her patient. The sudden paling of her face gave it away. When the medics after the allotted two seconds still was looking at her in absolute awe, Sakura realized she had to snap them out of it.

"What are you all looking at me for? Do you want me to give a lecture on poisons? Time is a major factor! That's the lecture. Get back to work on closing those wounds!" she bellowed spinning around meeting each pair of eyes, halting slightly at familiar onyx, but quickly gathering her bearings again. "Someone give me a status report!"

Oo o oO

And just like that Sakura had taken control of the operation room. Itachi had arrived just in time to see her snatch the wrist of that nurse. This was another new Sakura. One that was clearly in her element; bossy, confident, uncompromising. There was no hint of being deep in thought over some dark matter of her past only the present. He was highly amused by the disbelieving looks sent by the medics. Considering the fact that four people were dying in this room it was really not the time for him to be enjoying himself, but somehow he felt that Sakura's confidence wasn't unfounded. She would save these people without a doubt. Not because she was the supposed apprentice of the legendary slug Sannin, but because she was Sakura. He just knew, and it greatly disturbed him, the amount of trust he had in her.

Oo o oO

The status was not good but it was better than she'd feared. Soon all the superficial wounds would be closed, a few medics were working on some internal bleeding in one of the patients, but the real killer was the poison. To top it none of the patients was conscious, so no help on that front to discern the poison, the head medic was not present and no one really knew when he'd arrive.

The blood samples had not been tested positive on any of the common poisons, which could in all actuality mean two things. One: the poison was not one of the common types. Two: the poison was not in the bloodstream. This whole scenario was irking her memory. Scratching at the back of her head. There was something familiar... Now was not the time! She forcefully expelled all unnecessary thoughts.

Turning to the nearest patient she promptly lowered the operation table down to her height. Quickly she took in the physicals. Troubled breathing, accelerated heart rate, a rotten stench from the patients mouth...

"We're dealing with a gas here people!" That could possibly be why they had had no positive tests in the bloodstream. Either it was specialized to stay in the respiratory organs or it had just not reached the bloodstream. She hoped it was the first, it would make extraction that much simpler.

Glancing around she found the pale nurse standing stiffly in place. This would be her good deed of the day, she decided. "Hey, you" the nurse turned to face her sluggishly "I need a big bowl of sterilized water of 37 °C, no more, no less. Saving people is a team effort!" Green eyes observed as the nurse realized that she was still needed. It was revitalization in effect, as she scurried to get water with a determined look in former dull eyes.

Time to get herself ready. She breathed deeply. Four extractions. She might need another soldier pill. The lungs was not a place to leave excess water and it would take all of her concentration to make sure she didn't slip up. Gathering her hair she cursed inner Sakura for winning that argument; it was still very much long and very much in the way.

Oo o oO

She was truly amazing in her pink haired glory as she, without batting an eyelash, lowered the operation table of the nearest patient to her short height. This was professional Sakura, medic Sakura. He found himself looking forward to meet shinobi Sakura.

Itachi wondered, how exactly she'd come to the conclusion that the poison was airborne so fast, but realized he'd just have to ask her later. She seemed much too focused now. The nurse who had been her major antagonist was right now doing her slightest bidding, watching a thermometer so intensely that Itachi wondered when it might just spontaneously combust. Itachi felt his eye twitch and redirected his attention to Sakura just in time to catch the positively delighted expression on her face as she exclaimed, "Itachi, you're a lifesaver!"

The young chunin had no time to ponder where the "-san" had gone to. His instincts was screaming flight and they really shouldn't be doing that, since he was by far the most powerful of the two when it came to combat. However when it came to different matters like right now, maybe he should reevaluate. After all this was the dragon's cave, or rather the medic's operating room. He had no idea what she wanted with him, but it could not be something good.

He'd only managed to take a single instinctive step backwards before she was in front of him with the most sugary smile he'd ever seen and a mirthful twinkle in emerald orbs. Her right arm reached upwards and behind him. Muscles tensed in preparation. He felt a slight tug on his hair and then she walked away again. He blinked in confusion. 'What?' Itachi understood only when she gathered her long pink tresses in a messy bun using a very familiar red hair tie. She'd snatched his freaking hair tie!

Bonus Short 1 – Writing reports

Itachi clenched his hands tightly feeling how they ripped out a few hairs. If he did not watch it, he'd end up bald before he was finished with this stupid mission. He had never ever in his life had trouble writing his reports. It was always pretty simple. Target eliminated without incident or target safely delivered to specified location, minor incident on the way was taken care of without injury. Sometimes he'd include stuff like, there's a bit of unrest in Grass, or local community reports that merchant route number blah, blah has trouble with rogue nins. Pretty basic stuff really.

Now how was he going to write this. Well he was supposed to report her skills and movements and anything else he found strange or important. His usual way of formulating reports just wouldn't cut it.

Target suddenly stole porn adult book from Hatake Kakashi, upon which she fled to training ground 11 and proceeded to battle him. Even in her tired state she managed to keep up with Hatake and take him by surprise using chakra enhanced strength to punch him free from the ground where he'd hid. Target's chakra control is advanced beyond her years. As for her motivation to suddenly do such a thing it seems she was bored and affronted by his reading material.

He quickly crumbled the paper and let it join the rest of his failed attempts of report writing in the trash can. Somehow it just didn't do what really happened justice. "Target" did not really describe Sakura that well. Writing: "Sakura suddenly stole adult book from Hatake Kakashi" seemed a lot more probable, simply because it was Sakura in all her complexity and not a subject or target. If he wrote that the target stole a possession from and did battle with a Konoha ninja, it really didn't sound all that well. If only he hadn't waited until the very last moment to write this. He usually wasn't one to postpone things but the sheer horror of writing this part of the weekly report had inevitably made him find more important endeavors…

In the end Itachi had lost quite a few of those pretty dark hairs on his head, but he'd also come to a conclusion when it came to the reports on Sakura. He would have to write, not the situation, but how he'd interpreted it afterwards. It was then as the third Hokage read this particular part of the weekly report, he had to wonder if there wasn't more to this story.

Target, Sakura, challenged Hatake Kakashi to a spar in which she held herself surprisingly well and showed impeccable chakra control.